Sensing Freshness

Can “electronic sensor circuits” reduce food waste by judging food freshness (through measuring acidity levels) more accurately than expiration dates? Yes. But…

-But that’s not saying much, as expiration dates aren’t all that accurate.

-But so could your own sensors–of smell, sight and taste.

-But these food sensors are currently too expensive for mainstream adoption.

-But, the advent of plastic sensors could make them economically feasible in 5 years!

There is some precedent for using this technology, as sensors are currently used at the pallet level to track temperature during shipping and unloading. And there are already freshness sensors  to detect gases given off by meat and fruit.

Yet, it remains to be seen when the new plastic, inexpensive sensors will be ready and whether industry and consumers will adopt it. In the meantime, we still have that oh-so-elegant, low-tech sensor: the old sniffer. 

March 18, 2013 | Posted in Food Safety, Supermarket, Technology | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Huge news from Ireland: Starting in 2016, it will be illegal to put home food waste into the trash. That means all Irish households will separate food waste from the regular waste stream, which will be a boon for composting and anaerobic digestion.

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China’s Operation Empty Plate is the humble campaign that lit a food-waste-reducing fire under the world’s biggest nation. While its name evokes hunger to this reader (something lost in translation?), the campaign aims for more clean plates and less waste.

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Good to see The Times, that venerable London broadsheet, discuss food waste (via a piece on feeding scraps to chickens). At least I think that’s what it discusses (not having a subscription).

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Back to Ireland, this piece on the charity Cross Care’s hunger relief and food recovery warms the hearrrrt. It’s worth watching for the accents alone:

March 15, 2013 | Posted in General | Comments closed

Food Packaging: Lesser of Two Evils

With food packaging, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Too much, and you’re using unnecessary materials. Too little and you’re risking damaged food in transit and elsewhere.

I suppose the ideal is going uber-local and bringing your own reusable containers like at Austin’s in.gredients (check out their incredible 6-month sustainability numbers). But until that sweeps the nation…we need to come to a compromise on food packaging.

Moving in that direction, there’s a new report from Britain’s WRAP mining consumer attitudes on food packaging. As you can see in the full report, the study found that few consumers (only 13%) realize that packaging can help reduce food waste at home through better storage (in addition to doing so in transit and in the store).

The study also found that most British consumers believe they are storing food items correctly, but many are not. And following storage guides on packaging labels would help. Also helpful: produce storage guides like this!

In addition, while British consumers feel that both packaging and food waste are problems, concern for food waste outpaced that for packaging after participants were shown more information. For anyone trying to change behavior on food waste, the three most effective statements were:

‘In the UK we throw away enough food, from our homes, to fill Wembley Stadium to the brim nine times over – every year;” “Wasting food costs the average family £480 a year. For families with children the cost can be up to £690 a year;” and “Food waste gives off harmful gases like methane when it rots in landfill. Methane is 20x worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.”

To conclude, nobody wants to see excessive packaging, and we should all strive to reduce our usage wherever possible. But, consistent with consumer attitudes after they heard more info, reducing food waste, with its associated environmental (embedded resources, landfill methane emissions) and social costs (not feeding people), should take priority over minimizing packaging. And in many cases, the latter may help with the former.

 

 

March 13, 2013 | Posted in Energy, Environment, International, Storage | Comments closed

Oddities: Orange Italy

As you might guess, I’m a fan of odd-shaped produce. I’m drawn to ugly fruits and veggies that have more character than perfection. I like to give them a home, because too often they end up being wasted. Besides, it’s taste, not appearance, that matters most.

I usually end up with these items at the farmers’ market or find them in my backyard raised beds. But I recently came across an impressively odd-shaped carrot in a strange place–a store-bought bag.

Might this signal a change in attitudes among major packing companies? Unlikely, but a guy can always hope…And you do see more odd-shaped carrots than other conventional produce.

Meanwhile, after I cut it down a bit–that’s the untouched bottom of the carrot–doesn’t this carrot totally like Italy??

March 11, 2013 | Posted in Alphabet Produce, Household, Supermarket | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

During a recent panel on food waste, the California Board of Food and Agriculture announced a goal to double the amount of produce donated to the California Association of Food Banks’ Farm to Family program by 2015. That’s exciting because it will mean more nutritious foods going to those in need. And wasted food takes on added significance in California, given the state’s massive farm output and mounting food insecurity.

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U.S. News & World Report has these five strategies for reducing household waste and saving money.

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Students at Nanyang Technological University,  just launched makan mantra, a campaign to increase awareness and combat food waste in Singapore. My favorite mantra: “Don’t Shy Shy,” aimed at countering the embarrassment that prevents diners from taking home restaurant leftovers.

This new campaign will augment the fabulous Save Food Cut Waste site.

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As part of the Beyond the Classroom initiative, Kansas State students learned more about their trash, including their food waste.

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Finally, there’s going to be a documentary on the college-based Food Recovery Network? Can’t wait!

March 8, 2013 | Posted in College, Farm, Food Recovery, International, Leftovers | Comments closed

Hunger’s Place in the National Consciousness

Arriving just in time to raise the profile of hunger in America, the documentary A Place At the Table is now out in theaters and, in some cable systems, on demand. Please see it!

In addition to the film, it’s a campaign. The main site for A Place at the Table links to a related book, news on hunger, ways to get assistance, personal stories and more. Here’s the trailer:

March 7, 2013 | Posted in Hunger | Comments closed

Harvesting Hope

There are many valiant gleaning initiatives in the U.S., but I haven’t seen any that also count integrating refugees into American life as part of their mission. Except, that is, the Iskashitaa Refugee Network.

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit with the Tucson, Ariz., operation and was impressed with their range of programs and passion. Also impressive: the annual 75,000 pounds of food gleaned, mostly from backyard trees, and redistributed to local food relief groups.

image by Jonathan Bloom

Founded and led by Barbara Eiswerth, the organization focuses on empowering refugees through gleaning produce, but also by teaching food preparation, E.S.L., marketing, sewing and crafting. In and around Tucson, Iskashitaa sells goods they make to help fund the operation (here’s a downloadable Iskashitaa catalog).

Iskashitaa started in 2003 when Eiswerth and refugee students began mapping the location of locally-growing produce not being used, mostly in front and backyards. With homeowners’ permission, the group soon began harvesting and redistributing fruit. In arid Tucson, that mostly meant a variety of citrus, from kumquats to tangelos to grapefruit.

Barbara EiswerthThese days, Iskashitaa  volunteers–a mix of refugees and Tucson lifers–rescue a variety of items, including squash, pomegranate, prickly pear, carob and dates. When there’s a real excess, they presever it through canning, cooking and drying, making jams, carob powder and date syrup.

The term Iskashitaa in Somali Bantu (they were the original refugees with which Eiswerth worked) means working cooperatively. Eiswerth had to create the spelling because at that time, the Somali Bantu didn’t have a written form of their language. Years later, with guidance from Eiswerth and her team, they are writing new chapters in their lives.

March 5, 2013 | Posted in Food Recovery, Tree Gleaning | Comments closed

Want Something Wonky?

This week we learned that more than 80 percent of Britons are willing to buy produce of imperfect shape or color. At least that’s what they said when asked that in a poll conducted by The Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Note–they weren’t asked about fruits and vegetables with blemishes or bruises, but just the so-called “ugly” fruits and vegetables. So everything from straight bananas to curvy cucumbers.

Yet, the question looms: Is this just talk? Of course people are going to say they’ll buy imperfect food. But in reality? Many of the grocers I’ve talked to are skeptical; what people say and do, are two very different things.

But–if the numbers are any indication–a good portion of Britons actually might buy ugly produce. British household food waste decreased by 13 percent from 2007 to 2010. That means that folks in the UK are heading the message that sites like Love Food Hate Waste, UK supermarkets and the mainstream media regularly spread. Plus, Brits are more prone to heed the anti-waste message than Yanks because food rationing in the UK didn’t fully end until 1954.

So those polled in Britain may indeed want something wonky. Especially the 10 percent who said they actively choose imperfect looking foods.

February 28, 2013 | Posted in International, Supermarket | Comments closed

China Hates Waste?

It’s never a bad thing when the world’s most populous country turns its gaze to food waste. And China is doing just that, thanks to Xi Jinping, the new Communist Party chief and the presumed next President.

Xi prompted this newfound attention with a few words in response to an article on China’s rampant food waste. As summarized nicely in The Atlantic, these were Xi’s words: “These habits of waste must be stopped immediately!” 

The results went viral, Sino-style. TV News covered Xi’s comments, which led to the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily running a front-page piece on food waste. The mainstream media then did the same. For example, there was the amazingly-titled “Opposing Waste Is a Profound and Far-Reaching Social Reform,” which I’m now considering as a tattoo (because it’s so catchy).

This has led to some interesting places: Web sites decrying the traditional, lavish Chinese banquet as wasteful, especially when they are taxpayer funded, and then food waste as an abuse of public funds. It has even morphed into a discussion of power and corruption that has prompted a real drop in the sale of luxury items, at least according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Overall, it has been a heady few weeks. And it will be exciting to see whether the anti-waste wave has crested and where it goes next.

February 22, 2013 | Posted in History and Culture, International | Comments closed

Fine with a Fine?

In American Wasteland, I wrote about a buffet in London that charges a fee for food left uneaten and donates the proceeds to Oxfam. This editorial advocating that buffet restaurants fine patrons for uneaten food caught my eye.

The idea stemmed from a seafood restaurant in Sapporo that is pretty particular about how customers eat salmon roe. Customers decide how much of the red roe and rice (tsukko meshi) they want, but must make a donation to the fisherman who supply the restaurant if they leave food uneaten, as the post explains:

According to the explanation in the menu, the working conditions for fishermen are harsh and so dangerous that it’s not unknown for lives to be lost. To show our gratitude and appreciation for the food they provide, it is forbidden to leave even one grain of rice in your bowl. Customers who do not finish their tsukko meshi must give a donation.

The rule has a certain grace to it, connecting customers to their food and its origins. It would seem to be about mindful eating–not mere economics or punishment.

For all of us who preach reducing waste, it’s the ultimate form of putting your money where your mouth is. Yet, I have a hard time seeing it actually happen here in the States, at buffets or just with a certain dish.

Culturally, the all-you-can-eat buffet seems fairly ingrained. And this arrangement that virtually incentivizes us to eat until we “get our money’s worth,” is the real culprit, prompting overeating and waste. Paying by weight, common at supermarket hot bars and elsewhere, seems like a better arrangement.

What do you make of the idea–would you patronize an all-you-can-eat buffet with a fine for uneaten food? And would it matter if the fee went to support farmers or a food relief agency or just the restaurant?

February 20, 2013 | Posted in Restaurant, Unfinished Food Charge | Comments closed